Five Historic Photos of Round Top

As we dive a little deeper into the history of Round Top on our blog, these historic photos will help set the stage for the stories behind some of this small town’s most iconic landmarks and traditions.

Lady Bird Johnson visits Round Top in 1967, and enjoys a reception at the Round Top Courthouse. “Round Top is going to be an important spot on the map for me in the future,” she later wrote after visiting the Schueddemagen House. (Photo courtesy of the Round Top Area Historical Society)

2. The Schueddemagen House, pictured in around 1865. The house was built in the Teutonic (German) architectural style in 1852 by Carl Siegismund Bauer as a gift to his daughter and son-in-law, and is a replica of the family home in Wiesa, Kingdom of Saxony. The walls are made of two-feet-thick limestone, with solid tree trunk ceilings, antique brick floors, and German hand-blown glass windows. Today the home is fully restored, and operates as a bed and breakfast in Round Top. (Photo and information courtesy of the Round Top Area Historical Society)

3. Construction began on Round Top’s Bethlehem Lutheran Church in 1866, and the first service was held in 1867. Another building designed by Carl Siegismund Bauer, the church is one of the earliest stone churches built in Texas. Services have been held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church since its construction, making it the oldest Lutheran church still operating in the state.

4. Round Top’s main street as it appeared in the 1800s. Pictured are one of the town’s two general stores and the post office. Round Top became an incorporated town in the state of Texas in 1870.

5. Parade-goers on a float at the Round Top Fourth of July Parade in the 1950s. The first parade was held in 1851, and is presumably the longest-running Fourth of July Parade west of the Mississippi River. (Photo courtesy of the Round Top Area Historical Society)